Villwock leads Seafair qualifying
Dave Villwock drove the Ellstrom E-Lam Plus to Friday’s top qualifying speed for the Chevrolet Cup at Seafair race for unlimited hydroplanes, posting an average speed of 153.002 mph on the 2-mile Lake Washington oval course in Seattle.
Brisk winds caused rough, dangerous conditions on the lake.
Jeff Bernard in Formulaboats.com had the second-fastest qualifying time at 151.521 mph. He was followed by Steve David in Oh Boy! Oberto at 148.975 mph. Fourth was Dave Bryant in Hoss Mortgage Investors at 148.576 mph.
Qualifying continues this morning, with preliminary heats set for this afternoon and Sunday. The winner-take-all final is set for 4:45 p.m. Sunday.
AUTO RACING
Johnson takes pole
Jimmie Johnson won his second pole in a row and third of the season at Pocono Raceway at Long Pond, Pa., knocking Mark Martin off the top spot in qualifying for the Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500.
Martin turned a lap of 167.560 mph that looked like it probably would hold up for his first pole since 2001. But Johnson moved him to the outside of the front row for Sunday’s race with a sizzling 168.215.
BASKETBALL
Mavs, Nelson settle
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban must immediately pay Don Nelson $6.3 million, an arbitrator ruled in settling a long-running battle over the former Dallas coach’s compensation package.
Nelson, now the Golden State Warriors’ coach, claimed the money was owed to him from his time with the Mavericks from 1997-2005. The arbitrator, retired Judge Glen M. Ashworth, also rejected Cuban’s claim that Nelson used “confidential information” to help the Warriors upset the top-seeded Mavs in the first round of the 2007 playoffs.
•NBA commissioner David Stern fired back against accusations from former Seattle SuperSonics owner Howard Schultz, asserting in a court filing that he did not make threatening remarks to the Starbucks chief executive.
•Mavericks forward Josh Howard was arrested in his hometown of Winston-Salem, N.C., after police said he was drag racing at nearly 40 mph higher than the posted speed.
MISCELLANY
Sharapova out of Open
Maria Sharapova will sit out the U.S. Open because of a bad right shoulder, the first major championship she’ll miss since her Grand Slam debut in 2003.
The three-time Grand Slam title winner already had announced she’s pulling out of the Beijing Olympics because of the injury.
•Trainers of horses that test positive for anabolic steroids at the Breeders’ Cup in October will face a one-year suspension from the event, and three-time violators will be banned for life, according to new rules.